When I was a Christian I thought that it was possible to receive the "spiritual gifts" described in 1 Corinthians 12 including the "gift of tongues." But I also did not "receive" any "gifts" at any time when I was a Christian. I was concerned about whether or not it was even real during my time as a Christian, but I met and saw some people who believe they have any of the "spiritual gifts" of 1 Corinthians 12 especially the "gift of tongues."
I recognize that the "speaking in tongues" in the Book of Acts means that people spoke in their own languages and others were amazed that they heard languages they didn't understand. However, Christians who believe in "speaking in tongues" like the unintelligible babbling that reflects the sounds of the languages that Christians speak also use 1 Corinthians 12 to support their beliefs and not just Acts 2. Currently, I do not believe it's even possible to receive the "gift of tongues" nor any of the other "spiritual gifts" described in 1 Corinthians 12. In fact, I noticed that in churches where they believe in "spiritual gifts" it's all fake, especially with prophecies that never fulfill and the gibberish people speak sounds like they were taught to do it. There is even some research that shows that speaking in tongues is nothing more than gibberish using sounds of languages Christians already know or are familiar with. It's likely that there is mental illness or seizures, drug use, faking, or pure manipulation involved in the "speaking in tongues."
I also know that "speaking in tongues" is not limited to Christianity but I'm not too familiar with it in other religions. I have also felt compelled to debunk the "spiritual gifts" of 1 Corinthians 12 as well as similar phenomena in other religious texts and traditions, but can't really find enough psychological and psychiatric studies that show there's nothing supernatural involved in these phenomena. I feel like it's going to be hard to debunk everything and deconvert religious people from their religions, especially as some Christian roommates of mine are trying to manipulate me into believing in Christianity again and I felt overwhelmed by their manipulative reindoctrination tactics.
If any of you on this subreddit believed in "speaking in tongues" and believed 1 Corinthians 12 supported the kind of gibberish heard in some charismatic churches and events, did any of you actually do it when you were a Christian, can you still do it now, and what do you think about
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Why? Because the Paul believed that the End Times were presently occurring in his lifetime (1st Corinthians 7:29-31 & 10:11). Same thing goes for verses 19-20 where it says that our bodies donβt belong to use, which is overt sexual abuse.
Corinthians are the ONLY thing that brings joy to my life. Each November they show up like clockwork, randomly in the middle of the biscuit aisle, forcing everyone to walk around them. This year there was a tiny end cap for a week and they've been GONE ever since. PLEASE New Zealand, where have the Corinthians gone? Will they be back before Christmas? Will I ever experience happiness again? Nothing compares to a mint Corinthian. Mods please pin this thread so it can have the attention it deserves.
I have read several different polemics concerning the topic of head-covering and they have left me more confused than I was to start with. There are a few questions that I would like to get clarity on: 1) Is the conclusion that Paul is trying to argue for that women should wear a garment over their heads when praying or prophesying, or is the head-covering suppose to be something distinct from a garment? 2) I can't really track the reasoning that Paul seems to employ to justify his conclusion. What exactly is the structure of Paul's argument suppose to be? 3) What is Paul getting at in verse 16 when he says, "But if anyone is disposed to be contentiousβwe have no such custom, nor do the churches of God". Is he saying that if anyone is disposed to be contentious then head-covering is no longer required?
